Burned Out to a Crisp. Work Gave Me CPTSD and I Don’t Know How to Come Back from It

Hi everyone,

I don’t even know where to start. I feel like I’ve been through the emotional equivalent of a house fire, and now I’m just standing in the ashes wondering how I’m supposed to keep going.

I used to love my work. I poured my heart and soul into it. I truly believed in what I was doing. I spent decades investing in my education, working hard day in and out to achieve personal and professional excellence. But over time especially in the last few years, it broke me. The micromanagement, the gaslighting, the constant criticism, the toxic power dynamics, the lack of support and leadership. The extreme stress and harm. Real harm. It’s changed the way I see myself, the world, and people.

Now I’m left with complex PTSD from the prolonged trauma. I flinch at emails. I panic when someone asks to hop on a call or god forbid zoom meeting. I overanalyze every word I say in meetings and to individuals. I can’t rest. I can’t trust. And most days, I don’t even recognize the version of me that used to feel strong, passionate, and purposeful. My mind is broken, my body is broken, I don’t recognize the person I see in the mirror.

I keep hearing “just find a better job” or “take a break,” but how do you heal from something that got inside your nervous system and rewired your brain? Misshaped your body? Infected your relationships? How do you show up again, anywhere, when your body reads simple encounters and feedback as a threat and your mind is stuck in loops of self-blame?

If anyone has been through something like this, burned out physically, emotionally and spiritually, how did you start to recover? Did you switch fields entirely? Did therapy help? Did you ever feel safe again?

I want to believe there’s life after this. That I can find joy and meaning again. That I can trust myself. That I can trust others. But right now, I feel like a ghost of who I was. Life and work has lost all meaning.

Thanks for reading. Just needed to get this out and hopeful not feel so alone.